A remote planetary colony of the Galactic Empire, Darkover, is at this time in its history a society of feudal clans, the Domains, which are loosely linked by circles which exercise psionic powers and "matrix technology," an intuitive, soft energy system which works through extrasensory perception. At this time in Darkovan history, relations between Darkover and the Galactic Empire are at their most estranged, Dark-overians having forgotten their beginnings as a Terran colony under the rule of an intensely conservative dynasty, the Hasturs. The Heritage of Hastur chronicles the development of matrix technology and how misuse of psionic powers threatened to destroy the civilization in the interwoven narratives of Regis Hastur and Lew Alton. Although a fantasy literature replete with what might be thought of as occult or magical trappings, the psychic powers are always the result of science, not of magic; they are extensions of people's natural...